


Fake It Til You Make It

by imsodonewithlarrystylinson



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M, and well, i literally fell in love, idk i stole this off twitter, it kind of writes itself
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-06
Updated: 2013-08-06
Packaged: 2017-12-22 14:48:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/914474
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imsodonewithlarrystylinson/pseuds/imsodonewithlarrystylinson
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Remember when you were younger and your parents always told you not to talk to strangers on the internet? Well Harry didn't get that talk, and he didn't learn his lesson. He didn't quite think about how easy it is to lie about who you are on the internet; and well, people aren't always who they say they are.</p><p>AKA the one where Harry talks to a girl through Twitter and she isn't exactly who she says she is.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fake It Til You Make It

**Author's Note:**

> So apparently AO3 is stupid and doesn't italicize or boldface words, so this will probably be kind of hard to read and understand. Hopefully it all makes sense. :(

_I just wish you didn't live so far away.._

_I know, I wish we lived closer too. But hey, it'll happen one day, right?_

Harry felt a shock of hope rage through him, knowing that Valerie wanted to meet him just as bad as he wanted it. It'd been a year and a half since they first talked. It seems so strange to him because of how clearly he remembers the first time they had spoken.

It'd been on Twitter, oddly enough. They ended up in a mutual follow somehow and started tweeting each other daily, which led to DM'ing, which led to texting. They were extremely good friends right from the start and they found out how much they actually had in common.

They both loved people, little kids, and their family. They were both born in the UK and moved to the States when they were young. Valerie did theatre at school and had been in a production of Grease for her school when she was still there, which she'd sent Harry some video clips from. She was a phenomenal singer and the guy who she'd been in it with was quite good as well.

Harry liked indie music and thrift shopping; Valerie had always laughed at him for the weird names of his favorite bands and his odd sense of style. But they'd hit it off, finding that they agreed to disagree sometimes and actually got along better because of their differences.

Although they hadn't met, they both agreed that what they had was special and shared mutual feelings for each other. They knew so much about each other and felt extremely strongly toward each other. Harry was bi (not that he'd ever felt the need to tell her that) and Valerie was most likely straight. It was a win-win situation.

Harry knew that she had blue eyes and brown hair, she was 5'7", (which was tall for a girl, Harry was 6'2", so he wasn't complaining.) and she played piano. She had four younger sisters, and she was 21. 

There was nothing Harry wanted more than to meet her, but they were stuck. She lived in California and Harry lived in Michigan; more than halfway across the country. Over 2300 miles away from each other, and they were trying their best to connect and eventually meet.

_Yeah, I guess you're right. You're out for the summer now, right?_

_Out for good, babe. Xx It's only a little while until I'll be able to come see you. :-)_

He smiled to himself and looked to the corner of his room where a large jar was sitting, filled to the top with paper money, quarters, nickels, and dimes. He'd been saving up for what seemed like forever now, and though he planned on saving it for college or something else important like that, he decided Valerie was well worth his savings.

_Yeeeaaahh, about that..._

Harry felt his heart sink deep into his chest. They'd been talking about how badly they wanted to meet for so long, they'd even gone into detail about what they were going to do when they met. (Not that he minded that, he quite liked the images he had in his head of her bent over like a pretty little slut just for him.)

_What do you mean? I thought you wanted to meet me too? :-(_

_I do, baby, I do! But I just don't know if you'll like me as much as you think you will..._

_What are you talking about? I love you, Val. Why would that change if I met you?_

Harry frowned down at his phone, worrying himself much too quickly. They'd already exchanged addresses, for whoever decided to go where, whether she come her or he there. He was planning on surprising her soon, his mother had even told him he could.

_I know, I just..I'm worried, that's all. I'm quite different in person.._

_Well, even if you look nothing like you've told me and have a buzz cut or wear sweatpants and wife beaters, I'll still love you. Promise. :) xx_

And that was that. They didn't talk much about that, or their worries in terms of actually meeting. Valerie knew he planned on coming down, she just didn't know when. Which Harry had decided on awhile ago; keeping the date a secret to himself just to surprise her.

Sure enough, a week and 3 days later, he was sitting comfortably on an airplane on his way to meet the girl he'd waited 18 months for. He was shaking with excitement, texting her and telling her that he had a surprise and that she would find out what it was 5 hours from now.

He settled back into his seat and pressed his headphones into his ears, the sound of It's Time by Imagine Dragons flowing happily into his brain. It wouldn't be long now until he got to meet the girl he'd fallen in love with over Twitter and texting.

*****

Louis was sitting on his couch fiddling with his phone when he heard a knock on the door. He got up and tossed his phone back down onto the cushiony white surface and strolled casually toward the front door. He didn't bother looking through the peephole to see who it was, it was probably just someone trying to sell something like it always was.

When he opened the door, he was greeted by big green eyes and a face-splitting grin. A young boy with a head full of curls and both arms cluttered with bags stood on his front step, and when he realized who it was, his heart picked up twice it's speed.

"Hi, is Valerie here?" the boy asked, grinning wildly from ear to ear. Louis' eyes widened like saucers and before he knew what he was doing, he slammed the front door and ran into the living room to grab his phone before sprinting upstairs to his bedroom.

_**Shit, shit, shit. Now everything is going to be ruined, shit shit.** _

Suddenly, his phone vibrated in his hands.

_Hey, about the address you gave me awhile ago..it's still the same address, right?_

**_What do I say? It's not like I can lie and give him a new address.._ **

_Uh, yeah. It is.._

_Then can you come outside? I think your brother or something might've come to the door and answered._

Louis' hands were shaking more than they ever had before, sweat forming on his palms. It wasn't supposed to happen like this. It wasn't supposed to end like this, or so soon.

Not that he really knew how it was supposed to end, considering either way, Harry would find out that he was lying and end up hating his guts. Which terrified and mortified him; the fact was, he'd fallen in love with Harry at the same time as Harry had fallen in love with Valerie. Of course as soon as he found out he wasn't actually a girl and there was no Valerie, he would leave him on his own doorstep, heartbroken and alone.

He now wished that he would've been honest with him from the start so that maybe he could've had a real chance with him. Why the hell did he think he could somehow get away with this?

He got up on shaking legs and walked slowly down the stairs to the door, heart pounding in his chest. He looked through the peephole of the door to see Harry standing there with his everlasting grin still plastered onto his face and bags still in tow. He took a deep shaky breath and opened the door as nonchalantly as he could.

"Hi."

"Oh..you again, hi. I told Valerie to come get the door, she's coming right?" Louis frowned and looked down at his sock covered feet and wobbly knees.

"Yeah, uh, about that..you can come in if you want, this shouldn't take long." Harry's face read confusion and he was visibly worried.

"Okay.." Louis opened the door wider and stepped aside so Harry could walk in with all of his bags. As he waddled inside with all of his belongings, Louis got the opportunity to properly check him out.

He was a very tall (much to his promise), lanky boy with a long torso and what seemed like never ending legs. He was wearing black jeans that looked like a pair of jeggings you would see a 14 year old girl wear and a green pullover with the sleeves rolled up. He had a white bandana holding his curls back and Louis thought he was stunning. In his odd, indie hipster way of course.

"Right, so there's something you should know, Harry.." he walked into the living room, Harry following closely behind.

"Um, alright." Harry said awkwardly, sitting down on the couch opposite of Louis.

This wasn't going to end well, he could feel it in his gut. Harry was going to hate him, maybe he'd even punch him. If Louis was in Harry's position, he probably would. Either way, Louis ended up upset and lost just like he always did.

"Well, about Valerie.." he stopped and paused, not knowing how to explain the situation. He looked up at Harry, whose eyes were locked on his and he was sitting upright on the couch. Louis frowned again and looked back down at his hands that were tightly knotted together in his lap.

"There is no Valerie." he said bluntly. He closed his eyes and prepared for the screaming to start, but it never came. He peeked up at Harry, who was now looking completely bewildered and dumbfounded.

"Huh?" Louis took a deep breath.

"I'm Valerie."

*****

Harry couldn't believe what was happening to him. It was like an episode of that TV show, what was it called? Matchfish? Something like that.

He didn't know how to react; for one, he didn't know if this boy was being serious or pulling his leg. He had no idea who this boy even was and that worried him even more. He looked familiar but he couldn't quite place where he'd seen him before.

"Come again?"

"I made it all up, Harry. There is no Valerie, there's just..me."

"And who exactly would that be?"

"Oh, right. Louis Tomlinson." Okay, well he didn't lie about the last name, there's one thing. Louis. That's a nice name, I guess.

"Why did you lie to me, Louis?" he saw the smaller boy get noticeably uncomfortable, shifting around in his seat like he was flustered.

"I don't know. I really don't. It started out as a joke, I just wanted to see if those stupid dating commercials were the real thing."

"But we didn't start talking through a dating website." Harry felt the color rise to his cheeks, embarrassment consuming him entirely. How could he have fallen for something so stupid?

"Right. Well, I thought you figured I was a girl since my Twitter was mainly about One Direction and my twitpic was of Liam Payne. So I was screwed from the beginning, really. But no, I just really love them. I'm a fan boy.

I know it was wrong of me, and I'm really really really sorry. I understand if you hate me and want to leave and never see me again, but just know that I didn't lie about anything other than being a girl."

Harry stopped and thought about that. Well, he did swing both ways, so if Louis was really all he'd said he was, maybe this wasn't so bad.

"Nothing else?" Louis shook his head and looked at him, not breaking eye contact.

Well, Harry hadn't fallen in love with Valerie simply because she was a girl, he'd fallen in love with her-erm...him, because of who he was. He'd fallen in love with the late night conversations about their struggles and insecurities and the texts throughout the day about what they were doing. He'd fallen in love with the cute cheesy conversations they had in the morning and the dirty conversations they would have in the late hours.

He fell in love with how genuinely nice she was and how much she cared for her family. He fell in love with her obsession with boy bands and musicals, along with her undying love for singing and acting on stage.

He fell in love with how she made him feel better when he was down, even when nobody else could. And if it had turned out 'she' was a 'he', maybe he could roll with that.

"Wait, but you sent me a video of you performing Grease, that doesn't make sense."

"I was Danny, the girl who played Sandy was a friend of mine." Harry then realized why he looked so familiar; he'd seen him perform in the video. Which made sense for him to have chosen that video.

Harry had always been a very forgiving person, almost too forgiving at times. He'd been known to forgive and forget, move on and forget what even happened. He was easygoing usually, that was why he had so many friends.

He got up nervously and walked over to the other couch, sitting down next to Louis.

"So you have four younger sisters?" Louis nodded.

"You're 21 and 5'7"?" Louis blushed and nodded.

"You play piano, sing, and act?" And once again, Louis nodded.

"So if you knew I was a boy, and you were acting like a girl so I would fall for you, are you.."

"I don't know why I did it. If I wanted you to fall for Louis, not Valerie, I should've come right out and told you the truth. Because honestly, I fell for you harder than I ever have for anyone." Louis rubbed the back of his neck and glanced over at Harry with sad eyes.

Harry couldn't believe this was happening, even as it was. Sure, he fell for Valerie, but he fell for the person she was, and if Louis was the same way then maybe he could take a chance.

"Really?" Louis looked up with puzzled eyes.

"What?"

"You fell for me?" Louis nodded again, Harry was becoming worried he had scared him speechless. He place a hand on top of Louis' hands knotted together in his lap.

"I fell for you too." he looked at him and smiled, hoping Louis would return the gesture. When he did, Harry's heart sped up. He was really hoping he could make this work or else he would have to have an extremely awkward conversation with his mum about why he was home so soon (and he didn't exactly like the idea of telling her that it'd be a phony the whole time and it turned out to be some guy).

"Even though you found out Valerie isn't real?" Louis looked over at him hopefully.

"Especially since Valerie isn't real." Harry smiled back at Louis.

"Wait, you're-"

"Yes, I'm bisexual. I never felt the need to tell you because it hadn't really come up. That isn't something you just randomly bring up in conversation."

Louis looked over at him, still seeming too worried and doubtful to believe anything that was currently happening. Which made sense; he'd gotten himself wedged between a lie and an awkward greeting.

"Louis?"

"Yeah?"

"May I kiss you?" a huge smile spread across Louis' face and he nodded. Harry leaned in slowly and closed the gap between them, smiling into the kiss. Sure, Louis was no Valerie, but Harry had always liked guys a bit more than girls.

"I'm sorry I lied to you, Harry." he looked down at the ground, guilt pooling in his stomach like rain in a puddle after a storm for the billionth time that day. Harry looked over at him and tilted his chin up so their eyes met.

"I told you, it's okay love. Just please be honest with me from now on, alright?" Louis nodded and shook his leg anxiously, causing Harry to laugh.

"You're allowed to touch me, you know. I don't bite. Unless of course, you're into that." Harry smirked and wiggled his tongue out at Louis, who responded by busting out into a fit of laughter and leaning over more onto Harry.

"Since I went to all this trouble just to come see you, may I at least stay here?"

"Of course you can, do you want me to show you around?" Harry smiled again and nodded, getting up off the couch and looking around. Louis got up as well and took his hand, leading him down the hallway.

*****

After Louis had shown him around, they'd ended up in the last room (which happened to be Louis' bedroom, no surprise there) and had ended up rolling around on his bed, wrapped up in each other, kissing the other breathless.

45 minutes later, they were laying comfortably relaxed on the bed, Louis wrapped up in Harry's arms. They'd talked about Harry's hometown and his family. He'd told Louis about how long it'd taken to convince his mother to let him fly all the way out here by himself, and how he'd promised to call when he got to the airport and when he landed and every night to talk about what his day had included.

Louis had talked about his four little sisters and showed him a few pictures from awhile back when he still lived with them. He talked about college and how he was majoring in drama and would love to teach it at a high school level one day.

All the while Louis talked, Harry watched him. He was so passionate about what he did, and anybody who had eyes could tell that he loved it with all of his heart. He talked with his hands and looked Harry in the eyes when he spoke, and when he caught Harry grinning like an idiot at him with hearts in his eyes, he was extremely confused.

"Why are you smiling at me like that?" Harry just smiled and shook his head before leaning over to kiss him again.

"I like watching you talk about what you love. You're very passionate."

"But I haven't talked about you yet." Louis said with a smirk and a giggle. Harry pinched his side and laughed with him, glad they'd gotten the awkward part over with early on.

Harry had decided to stay for awhile and Louis of course loved that idea. They did a Facetime call with Harry's mother and after she'd stopped laughing at their little situation, she smiled proudly and told them she was glad they were happy.

She'd also continued on to tell Louis about how often Harry had talked about Valerie, Louis' smile getting broader and eyes crinkling more while Harry's face blushed a dark shade of scarlet.

He dug his face into Louis' shoulder, hiding his embarrassment from view and told his mother he would call her tomorrow night. Louis promised he would keep him safe and be good to him as well, so Anne hadn't put up much of a fight.

*****

4 months later, Harry was unpacking the last of his boxes at Louis' house. Harry had flown back and after a long talk and lots of promises, she'd agreed that it was appropriate for him to move in with Louis out in California.

When he'd called Louis to tell him, he squealed as loud as Gemma had when her first boyfriend asked her out. So it was true; they were smitten. Their mothers always joked that they would end up an old married couple, grandkids running around everywhere and still as in love as the first year.

Harry met Louis' mother and sisters, who had all absolutely adored him. Phoebe and Daisy played with his hair while they all talked and Felecite stared from across the room. She blushed and his her face whenever he talked to her and Louis became jealous and possessive once again.

After living together for awhile, they'd fallen into a pattern, a daily routine of sorts. Wake up, shower, breakfast, work, gym, shower (sex), dinner, sleep. Usually spending time with each other watching tv or old movies while cuddling on the couch, which usually turned into a heated makeout session, which usually led to handjobs and blowjobs. Whenever things started going farther than that they would go upstairs to their bedroom to avoid making a mess.

The first time they had sex was gentle and passionate. It was on a Saturday night and they were laying in bed watching Sleepaway Camp 3 (much to Harry's protest), cuddled in each other's arms tightly. Harry had his head tucked into Louis' side to hide the screen from his sight. He'd been like this for a good portion of the movie and Louis hadn't seemed to notice the soft sniffles coming from the younger boy curled into him.

That is, until Harry started shaking and Louis could feel his shirt getting wet. He grabbed the remote and quickly pressed pause before turning on the lamp on their bedside table and looking down at Harry.

"Haz baby what's wrong? Talk to me, love." Harry pulled his shirt collar over his face to hide and continued to shake and sniffle. Louis pulled him in close and kissed his head, rubbing his curls soothingly.

"Shh baby it's okay. Please don't cry. Tell me what's wrong, c'mon talk to me." Harry let go of his shirt and looked up at Louis, eyes big and wet with tears.

"I hate scary movies. They give me nightmares for days and they terrify me. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, I ju-" He was cut off by Louis' lips against his. Forcefully yet so incredibly gently, Harry was thrown off guard. When they pulled away, he leaned his forehead against Louis' and smiled fondly at him.

"If you didn't like scary movies, why didn't you tell me, princess?" Harry had learned by now that Louis wasn't mocking him when he called him a princess, but he was saying that Harry was  _his_  princess. Which Harry was okay with.

"You seemed so excited to watch it, I'm sorry."

"Honey, stop apologizing. It's okay. We can turn it off." Louis said, picking up the remote again and changing the channel to a re-run of Friends. He looked back over to Harry and smiled at him, giving him a reassuring smile as if to ask,  _you're okay, right?_  And when Harry nodded back at him, he took the opportunity to lean in and kiss him, deeper this time. 

Harry took the hint and cupped his jaw tightly, twisting his tongue around Louis'. The elder boy slowly crawled onto Harry's lap and grinded their hips together.

The room grew hotter, both temperature wise and tension wise. Louis asked Harry about a million times if he was sure about wanting to do this, and it took about another million 'yes's from Harry that Louis actually believed him.

"Louis. If you waste any more time asking me, I'm gonna lose my boner. Will you please believe me?"

"You're positive? I don't want to hurt you.." Harry kissed him roughly, tugging on his hair aggressively.

"Babe, you've already prepped me and opened me up. I'm 1000% positive." Louis bit his lip, but pushed his worries to the back of his mind. He reached over to the side drawer and grabbed one of the small foil packets he'd bought last weekend.

All he could think of was how happy he was. How happy Harry had made him. How happy they'd been in the past two years (which is weird to say, because wow. Two years already?). Then he realized that this was what they both wanted, and that was okay with him.

And as he slowly pushed into Harry, feeling him clench around his cock, he knew this was right. As he rubbed Harry's thighs soothingly, cooing at him, telling him how good he was doing, he knew this was right. As he thrusted into Harry and listened to his moans, breathy and hot, he knew this was right.

 When Harry looked up at him with dark eyes and sweaty curls stuck to his forehead and told him he loved him, he could swear he felt his heart swell three times it's size at his total admiration and love for this boy.

This tall, lanky, curly haired boy who had unexpectedly showed up at his door one day with a dopey ass grin on his face. Carrying his weight in bags and searching for some girl that didn't even exist; Louis had gotten lucky and won him over as plain old Louis anyway.

And as Harry came with a strong hold on Louis' bicep, whispering 'I love you' into his ear, Louis became overwhelmingly aware of how in love with Harry he really was. That threw him over the edge and he came too, with a loud cry of Harry's name.

That night they fell asleep wrapped around each other, happy and smiling.

******

Harry easily forgave Louis for lying about Valerie. It also probably helped that he had an amazingly talented mouth and could do wonderful things with it. But it was really because he quickly realized that Louis really was exactly like he'd been acting.

He saw it when he got ready in the morning, so carefully doing his hair in the mirror, biting his lip in concentration. He saw it in the way he danced around the kitchen in the morning while he made his tea. He heard it when he was singing in the shower and how he would cover himself out of habit whenever Harry walked in and joined him.

Sure, he liked pretty long hair and clean kept fingers and toes. He liked the fruity or floral smell of perfume and the way they always smelled fresh. He liked watching them get ready and put makeup on, even though they didn't usually need it. He loved a girl with a nice ass, and even more so if she had nice breasts as well. He liked leggings and skirts, along with deep v-necks and fancy shoes.

But he also liked short choppy hair done up into a quiff. He liked minty breath and manly cologne that smelled like familiarity. He liked when someone was short enough he could kiss their nose and forehead perfectly. He liked skinny jeans and Vans and graphic tees. He liked the rough feel of stubble on their chin and thin lips.

He liked Louis. He loved Louis. He hated sticky lipgloss and greasy skin. He hated the clasps on bras because he'd always struggled to undo them. He hated when their long hair got in the way and when they wore too much perfume.

With Louis, it was never like that. Louis smelled like vanilla and home. He didn't have to worry about long hair or sticky lip products or back-clasping bras. All he had was happiness.

Harry's happiness was being showered with kisses in the morning. His happiness was singing together and slippery blowjobs in the shower. Happiness is wasting an entire day in bed watching old movies while cuddling.  Happiness is spending every second you can together and never getting sick of each other.

Happiness is Louis; and that's all Harry ever wanted.


End file.
